Table 1

Characteristics of respondents who reported stiff or painful joints 'never' or 'rarely' at Time 1

Mid-age women (n = 5,650)
 Older women (n = 5,207)

Variable
 Respondents included (n = 4,780)
 Respondents excludeda (n = 870)
 P valueb
 Respondents included (n = 3,970)
 Respondents excludeda (n = 1,237)
 P valueb
Age (years, mean ± standard deviation)
 52.53 ± 1.49
 52.57 ± 1.52
 0.366
 75.39 ± 1.51
 75.60 ± 1.51
 <0.001
Education (%)

<0.001

<0.001
     Less than high school
 13.5
 18.7
26.8
 34.7
     Some high school
 47.8
 50.9
52.7
 47.7
     Completed high school
 20.5
 17.4
11.6
 9.2
     Trade certificate/university degree
 17.4
 12.0
4.7
 2.3
     Missing
 0.9
 1.0
4.3
 6.1
Area of residence (%)

<0.001

<0.001
     Urban
 38.1
 43.3
40.2
 39.8
     Large town
 13.5
 11.4
11.6
 14.1
     Small town/remote area
 47.1
 42.4
46.6
 42.6
     Missing
 1.3
 2.9
1.6
 3.6
Country of birth (%)

0.001

0.003
     Australia
 74.6
 70.9
74.7
 71.9
     Other English-speaking
 14.0
 12.9
12.4
 11.2
     Non-English speaking
 7.9
 12.1
6.8
 9.3
     Missing
 3.5
 4.1
6.0
 7.7
Depression (%)

0.023

<0.001
     No
 91.6
 89.2
94.3
 87.6
     Yes
 8.4
 10.8
3.4
 7.6
Number of chronic diseases (%)

0.037

<0.001
     0
 55.8
 52.6
32.0
 42.5
     1
 31.0
 30.5
37.0
 20.3
     2
 9.7
 11.8
20.0
 18.0
     3
 2.7
 3.7
7.6
 10.5
     4 or more
 0.8
 1.4
3.3
 8.7
Smoking status (%)

<0.001

0.006
     Never
 55.4
 54.8
61.0
 58.5
     Former
 32.2
 26.1
27.6
 26.8
     Current
 12.2
 18.3
4.9
 7.4
     Missing
 0.2
 0.8
6.4
 7.4
Body mass index (%)

<0.001

<0.001
     <20 kg/m2
 5.1
 5.9
3.4
 4.4
     ≥ 20 and <25 kg/m2
 41.9
 38.6
48.4
 46.1
     ≥ 25 and <30 kg/m2
 28.0
 26.3
26.5
 23.8
     ≥ 30 kg/m2
 17.4
 16.8
9.7
 9.1
     Missing
 7.5
 12.4
12.0
 16.6
Physical activity (%)

<0.001

<0.001
     None (<40 MET.min/week)
 14.9
 22.2
24.4
 40.1
     Very low (40 to <300 MET.min/week)
 18.4
 19.5
14.0
 14.2
     Low (300 to <600 MET.min/week)
 18.0
 15.6
22.7
 14.0
     Moderate (600 to <1,200 MET.min/week)
 22.5
 19.6
15.8
 12.2
     High (1,200+ MET.min/week)
 26.2
 23.1
23.1
 19.6

MET, metabolic equivalent value. aWomen were excluded if they did not provide data on physical activity at Time 1 or did not provide data on symptoms of stiff or painful joint at Time 2. The 243 mid-age women and 987 older women who were missing physical activity data are not included in the percentage of excluded respondents in each physical activity category. bP value is for the difference between women included and those excluded from the analysis.

Heesch et al. Arthritis Research & Therapy 2007 9:R34   doi:10.1186/ar2154

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